, 1887-10-04

he list wasted an wasted away, an n
mornin', fore any one know'd it sca'cely,
he turned his face to the wall an slipped
over the river.
"An' that's the way the oil boys turned
up their toes, sonny, one after another,
ez long ez it were with vile foolin' 'roun'
in the woods after a chance. I'm afeerd
I've lost my chance o. followin' their ex-
ample. for tn hain't a painter nor a sign
o. one within a thousan' miles O. here,
an it don't seem to be no trick at all to
settle with a bar nowadays. If my OIL
gun don't bust, or q tree don't fall an
squash Inc, or a scattering shot in the
woods don't wing me, or l don't fall
overheard in the pond an git drowned,
I'm feerd, sonny, th't III hef to peg out
in bed, an th't the boys ez died game IL
kinder feel ashamed o. mo wen Gabriel
gives the bugle call an 1 jine EN- on
t'other side o. Jurdan.
But this here Burnt Chestnut run
'way-course yew heerd the curious story
ez to how it got its name? Didn't never
hear it2 Wall, / swowl That's c%uiiouser
yet thin the story, an bein's ye haven't
got nuthin' Letter to listen to Jest now thin
them sassy red squirrels ez is chucklin'
at us from ev'ry durn tree that's got O
hole in it an them wuthless jaybirds th't
sings ez If they was film a saw an the
tappin' O. that woodpecker on that dead
pine over yender, III iist give ye the his
tory o. oil Burnt Chen'nut.
1T happened q good many years
ago, it did, sUnny-so long ago that
thez very few in the country ez aver
heern on it, let alone 'memberin' on it.
'Twa'n't long after stage coaches begun
to run up through this deesrric', an
that's fur enough back, goodness knows.
Wall, anyhow, one fall an oil man th't
seemed to hev his share o. money got
out o. the stage over yender at tho cross
ms tavern, on t'other side o. tho bridge,
n staid thar. He give his name as
Simon Morer, an'he took to lookin' bout
tho deestric', an finally bought a tract o.
land up long the Big Swamp run. He
had a piece Of it cleared O. timber, an
then he built the biggest an suggest log
house th't were ever seen. The mex
summer half a dozen wagon loads o. fur
nitur' an setch fixin's fer housekeepin'
ez hadn't never been seen nor heern on
in these parts came a-drivin' up to oil
Morer's log house, an followerin' them
came the oil man, two young fellers ez
turned out to be his SONS an an ALFRED
handsome gal, not moron 16 year
Oh. 1t soon got missed around 'moDgst
wat few folks tn was diggin' in them
days fer a Twin in the deestric' th't this
gal were the OIL mans niece One O. the
boys were named Simon, AFTER his pap,
l s'pose, an t'other were called James.
Simon were bout 80, an James not
more'n 81. The gals name were Pa
thence. James was a tip top young chap
an fell right in with the Ways o. the OIL
residenters, an got to be so poplar 'mong
'em th't want long fore they was call
in him Jim. Young Simon, though,
were an overbearin' an disagreeable cuss.
He hated the woods an the people, and
didn't make no bones O. saying so. Con-
sequently, folks want SO blame well sot
to'ards him ez they mogvt ha' been. But
that hain't nuther here nor thar.
you noticed, o. course, how things
will git circulated around. an anyone's
business be ~ev'ryone's business, even if
tn hain't more'n half a dozen folks in a
deestric' twenty miles square. Wall,
that's the way it went bout the Morers,
an twa'n't long fore the hull woods
know'd th't oil Morer KEEP a good deal
O. money in his house, locked up in q
iron bound chist, an th't young Simon
an his brother Jim was both on 'em dead
In love with their cousin Patience, an
th't Patience had her heart sot on Jim,
an th't consistently tn were the oil boy
to pay most O. the time in the Morer
family. The oil mans f~avorite son were
young Simon. an vile he owned up to
that. he wouldn't hev no force-but
business in the matter O. Patience, an
were tryin' all the time to get the boys
to patch up some sort O. compromise.
TIL were trouble, too, about the OF
mans money cause Simon he claimed
th't most Of it must be his'n by rights,
an Jim he lowed th't he'd be blamed If
tn were.
"An' so things went on for a year an
better. One day Sam Bates, who were
happenin' to walk by the Morer place,
heerd q big quarrel goin' on 'mongst the
family. He heerd the oil man say th't
he wouldn' stan it no longer, An th't
he'd divide his money even 'twixt the
boys, an th't the girl muet marry Simon.
Then Jim he swore by all that was blue
th't the girl shouldn't marry Simon, yet
es fer the money, the old man could do
Just ez he blamed pleased with it. OF
Simon toll young Simon to take the stage
fer Philadelphy mex mornin', an nave
his lawyer draw up the papers, an to
bring 'em back an he'd sign 'em, an
Simon went.
9TH want much stir seen bout the
Morer place fer q week arter that. Then
folk thort it began to look mysterious,
an were jist Oh the pint O. 'vestigatin'
1t, wen young Simon got back. 'Twan't
many hours fore the hull deestric'
know'd th't Simon had found the house
empty. The OIL man were gone, Jim
were gone, Patience were zone, an wuss
thin all, as Simon said, the oil mans
money chist were gone. Simon ripped
round the neighborhood an wore th't
his brother Jim had murdered the OIL
man IN hid his body som'ers in the
woods, IN then stole the money an run
off with Patience. More'n th't, he swore
th't ev'ry one in the deestric' had helped
Jim do it, an th't he'd hev 'em all hung.
But no evidence o no murder couldn't
be found, an nobody couldn't under
stand wat it all meant. After vile
Simon, fndin' th't he couldn't find a
clew to nothin', sot fire to the house one
night an mex day left the deestric',
cussin' everybody th't were in it, ar no.
body ever see him ag'in.
People was beginning to fergit all
about the curious circumstance, wen